Kal in Space

Happy 4th: Why We Celebrate

2009-07-04T00:01:00.025-04:00

Before you fire up the grill, remember why we celebrate. From ushistory.org:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

A Few Thoughts on Pluto

2009-03-16T23:54:00.001-04:00

...the dog. No, just kidding.

I read this article on space.com today about Pluto's planetary status. In particular, it discusses the continuing debate on whether Pluto deserved to lose it's status as the 9th planet in our solar system. In 2006 there was outrage when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) declared that there are 8 planets in our solar system, and that Pluto was now called a "dwarf planet."

There are a number of reasons for the disagreements with this decision, but the one I want to address is what I'll call the sentimental value arguement. This is made by those who say that since they learned in school that Pluto was a planet, so it can't be demoted to something else. To all 1.6 million in the Facebook group "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet" I say GET OVER IT.

For this is not the heart of the issue. It's "emotion" rather than sense. In the words of Dr. Spock, it is "not logical." The fact is, now "America's favorite planet" is now part of an even more select group of 5 dwarf planets, including the troublesome Eris. Eris is estimated by astronomers to be larger than Pluto and even farther from the sun. According to Wikipedia it was touted briefly as the 10th planet. The other 3 are not quite so large - but the IAU couldn't justify upping the planet count to 13 (and potentially more as the Kuiper Belt is explored more closely), because Pluto couldn't be demoted.

The creation of a new class of dwarf planets makes sense because Pluto, Eris, Ceres (actually in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter), Haumea, and Makemake are so relatively small, even to Mercury, that they don't have much in common with the rest. It's estimated that many more dwarf planets may exist, astonomers just haven't found them yet.

To those who are still saddened by Pluto's reclassification, take heart that Pluto can still be enjoyed, and that soon it will be the first among many newly discovered heavenly bodies.

Kal

Happy Pi Day

2009-03-14T14:22:00.000-04:00

(a.k.a. Cue the cleanup hitter)

Time to tie up some loose ends -- or rather, comment on some previous topics. First things first, though. Happy Pi Day (the day formerly known as 3/14). We're celebrating by visiting Eric and Jill for homemade pizza pi.

Anyway, to follow up on the January post "On Public Smoking Bans," Monday was significant because Gov. Kaine actually got the deal done. Yes, Virginia, starting December 1, 2009, the home state of Philip Morris USA, and the worlds largest cigarrette factory, smoking in bars and restaurants (with a few exceptions - private parties, patios, separate ventilation systems) will be PROHIBITED. This one's for you, Gov. Kaine.

And, while NASA's Kepler spacecraft had a successful start to its mission, the Shuttle Discovery is having issues getting off the ground. There's a leak in one of the hydrogen fuel lines that they just can't get fixed. Next launch window is tomorrow...after that we're looking at April. Here's hoping that we don't have to wait. Every delay makes our space program look older. Where's that shuttle replacement when we need it? Oh, here it is...just, you know, it isn't built yet, it's British, and it won't be designed for manned missions (at least to start...). Anyway, this one's for you, Kepler Spacecraft -- I'm following you on twitter: @NASAKepler

-Kal

Kepler is Away!

2009-03-07T21:49:00.001-05:00

You may have not even heard, but there was an important launch last night from Cape Canaveral. NASA launched the Kepler spacecraft into orbit around the sun.

NASA's Kepler Portal

The Kepler spacecraft will follow Earth's orbit around the sun (it's "year," though, will actually be 371 days). It's mission is to seek out Earth-like planets orbiting other stars with it's camera, which sports an astounding 95 million megapixel array.

While Kepler won't be able to seek out new life, nor will it boldly go...anywhere, it will be able to tell us if planets like Earth -- rocky planets with an atmosphere and liquid water, able to support life as we know it -- are common. Are we unique in the galaxy? Kepler should be able to tell us.

Ultimately, if Earth is not unique, what does this mean? If there are other potentially habitable planets, especially nearby, I think that this ~~could~~ should spark a renewed interest in space exploration. Perhaps with Kepler's findings, we will be prompted to boldly go where no man has gone before.

If You Can't See Venus -- It's Cloudy

2009-02-25T22:07:00.001-05:00

I was driving home about an hour ago and I saw a bright star in the western sky. There is one problem with that...we can't see stars in Alexandria, there is too much light pollution. This is weird to adjust to, but once you are used to a blank sky (except for the moon), it's really weird to actually see something.

Anyway, tonight I saw an incredibly bright object, and it turns out it's Venus! Venus is much brighter than anything else in the night sky (except the moon) by a wide margin. As Space.com's NightSky report for February said:

If you go out as it gets dark and look to the west any early evening this month, and do not see Venus -- it's cloudy!

So grab your telescope and check it out! Saturn is also visible in the night sky but I haven't been able to pick it out yet...if I can, with all of the light pollution.

Getting Spaced on Twitter

2009-02-24T22:49:00.001-05:00

As some of you may know, there's a "micro-blogging" website called Twitter that has been building momentum for the last few years. It's called micro-blogging because posts can only contain 140 characters or fewer.

Once dominated by geeks, like Leo Laporte (@LeoLaporte), it has grown with the adoption of "tweeting" by celebrities and news organizations, and in the recent election cycle when both the Obama and McCain campaigns posted updates to Twitter. It's worth noting that both have largely gone dormant since the election (@BarackObama has just 2 tweets leading up to the inauguration, @JohnMcCain has not posted since Oct 24).

Anyway, I mention this because Twitter not only gives you the opportunity to follow people, but also news organizations, radio shows (@GrandyandAndy is my favorite), and as it pertains to Kal in Space, select NASA/JPL programs.

NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab have 4 main twitter characters: The Mars Phoenix Lander (@MarsPhoenix), Cassini Spacecraft (@CassiniSaturn), Spirit and Oppy (@MarsRovers), and the new Mars Science Lab rover (@MarsScienceLab). I call them characters because the JPL did something unique with Mars Phoenix, in that it the person who provided the updates did them in first person. It was like Mars Phoenix had a personality that you could interact with. In fact, in June 2008 when it was first confirmed that there was in fact H2O ice on Mars, it was announced first on Twitter with this:

Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!

We who follow MarsPhoenix on twitter watched as the rover's mission got an extension when the rover miraculously regained enough power to continue a few months beyond the original projection.

The other twitter characters aren't written in the first person, but they do provide great updates on what is going on around Saturn and on Mars, and they frequently answer questions that are sent via twitter.

Check them out!

-Kal
(@KalMiller)

Love Affair with Toaster Ovens

2009-02-02T13:33:00.006-05:00

I love toaster ovens. My senior year in college, my roommate Jason had a big, old toaster oven that he brought to our apartment. I was skeptical at first: We already had a toaster, and an oven. Why do we need a frankenstein of the two?

However, I quickly learned to love this peculiar device. You can make anything in one. I frequently would make batches of cornbread muffins or cornbread loaves (those didn't work out so well). Worked great for things like Pizza Rolls and other tasty snacks. But one of the best uses is reheating pizza.

Microwaves make reheating pizza a mushy affair. Use a toaster oven, though, and it's crispy and almost as tasty as if it were just made fresh. However, why not just make fresh pizza in your toaster oven? That's right, it heats up faster than a conventional oven and will cook a personal size pizza in no time!

Today, I contemplated that very thing. I brought some homemade pizza for lunch today. Pizzeria Miller Pizzas don't reheat well in the microwave, at least not as well as the pizza-chain delivery kind. Problem: No Toaster Oven at work. Heck, we don't even have a toaster. (Makes enjoying pop tarts a bit difficult...) Impolitic Solution: Buy toaster oven, and put it on my desk. Reheat Pizza.

However, I then asked myself: Why reheat pizza when I could just make my own FRESH in the toaster oven? BRILLIANT! I'm sure this would make even more people jealous than reheating homemade at my desk. But making people jealous isn't the goal. Tasty pizza is. So what do I do? Do I continue to suffer through mushy microwave pizza, or do I infuriate our facilities department by making delicious, fresh pizza at my desk?

I report, you decide. (Oh, wait...that's Fox News...never mind.)

Kal

My Week as a "Single" Dad

2009-01-31T22:10:00.001-05:00

This past week I spent as a "single dad." Rachel had to go to Houston for work. It was her first business travel since she went back to work after Kam was born. I hadn't been looking forward to it because while I generally get him around in the morning and I have spent days watching Kam myself, even putting him to bed (something Rachel generally does), I hadn't done the whole package...and I hadn't done it for 4 and a half days straight.

During that time I:

Put over 400 miles on the new car (good thing it's a Hybrid, right Al Gore?)
Left work early every day by at least a half hour
Prepared 9 bottles
Changed a few more diapers than usual each day
Watched 7 episodes of Stargate Atlantis on DVD (No TV competition)
Ordered a Pepperoni, Bacon, and Extra Cheese Pizza

And I got to spend a lot of time with Kam. We played cars, and played with blocks, we read a few books, we watched a little TV, and we enjoyed some goldfish crackers together. We spent a lot of time in the car, but we had fun. The best part, though was when I picked him up at Day Care on Thursday, Ms. Fauzia had taught him to say "Dah-dee", and he proceded to say it over and over all evening, and it was extremely cute.

I realized that it wasn't as daunting a task as I thought originally - facing each day "alone." We get to do it over again in a couple weeks, but for now Kam and I both agree that it's great to have mom home. :-)

On Public Smoking Bans

2009-01-23T14:12:00.005-05:00

Along the politics theme that I've been going on, another post. I've determined recently that I'm not as conservative as I thought I was during 2008. A couple things have helped me to realize this, but chief among them are certain laws that are enacted for public health reasons.

The first sign of this was when we went home to Michigan after Christmas. With one exception, most of the restaurants we went to had smoking sections. I don't smoke, and I cannot stand the smell of it. Living in Northern Virginia (coined "Communist Country" during the 2008 Campaign by Joe McCain), and working in suburban Maryland, I am very spoiled. The District of Columbia and the neighboring Maryland counties (MoCo and PG) have specific ordinances prohibiting smoking inside bars and restaurants. In Northern Virginia, the practice isn't specifically prohibited, but most restaurants do it on their own, or will have very small and very isolated smoking sections.

For health reasons, and my own enjoyment, I think this is a very good thing. Gov. Kaine of Virginia tried in 2007 and is rumored to be trying again in 2009, to pass a statewide smoking ban like those in DC and Suburban Maryland. It is not likely that this will pass the Republican-dominated General Assembly. That's ok, I guess. But what irks me, and why I'm inspired to post about this, is that there is a bill in the works that specifically prohibits localities from enacting their own laws for against public smoking. I'm not saying that we should actively support banning smoking laws everywhere, but the idea that Alexandria or Arlington or Fairfax should be prohibited from enacting public health laws on their own is preposterous!

Kal

Inaugural Musings

2009-01-20T21:48:00.004-05:00

A few things struck me today as I watched the inaugural festivities:

2 million people really do fit on the mall...but they overwhelm Metro to do it.
Where did the elder Bushes get those snazzy purple scarfs?
I'm glad I watched it from home on my HDTV.
For Obama's sake, I hope he isn't caught in the backlash where expectations are too high. (Bush is out of office now, shouldn't the rising waters be pushed back our planet be healed and the financial mess fixed now? What? Obama can't pay for my mortgage, gas, and food?)
How did Dick Cheney go from injuring his groin to throwing out his back? Who makes this stuff up?
Best line of the day goes to Katie Couric: At 12:05, pointing out that they need to get moving because constitutionally JOE BIDEN IS PRESIDENT since Obama wasn't yet sworn in and George Bush's term expired at 12:00 noon! (Katie, don't scare me like that!)
I'm still glad I watched it from home.

Anyway...congrats President Obama, I wish you well.

Stargate Atlantis Makeover

2009-01-17T21:38:00.002-05:00

In honor of the recent finale of Stargate Atlantis, Kal in Space has been given an Atlantis Expedition Makeover! The new theme features the Atlantis city-ship in flight, a Pegasus galaxy Stargate, an Ancient Puddle Jumper, and the USS Daedalus!

The goal is to introduce other Stargate Sets, like a Tau'ri, Wraith, Asgard, Goa'uld, and Ori...but this seemed like the best start to me!

Kal

Results & Dewisdomizing

2009-01-17T15:07:00.002-05:00

Two things to talk about this week.

First, election results. In last Friday's post I told you about our special election here in Alexandria's 46th State House district. I eventually decided that I would not write my own name in, but that I would vote for Joe.

A special election is one that nobody shows up for because they don't know about it. In fact, when I went to vote, there was just one person voting when I walked in, and I got all checked in, voted, and left. The 5 poll workers all thanked me by name and I went on my way. I voted about an hour and 45 minutes after the poll opened...and was voter #23 at my precinct.

Anyway, back to Joe. A Republican in a heavily Democratic district (no Republican has represented Alexandria since 1995 - I think that includes the local level), Joe almost squeaked out a win. At the moment, they're counting absentee ballots and will initiate a recount, because when the polls closed, Joe was down by a mere 17 votes.

Our votes count, especially when less than 3,000 people vote out of a district of 45,000 registered voters.

Next, I'm now lacking in wisdom...teeth. Yep, yesterday morning I went under the knife and had all 4 removed. Pain is subsiding but I wish the swelling was following suit...I look like a chipmunk and wish I could eat some solid food. But, Rachel's been keeping a good supply of Wendy's Frostys coming so it sorta makes up for it. :-) I was debating not posting but Jenny was confident I could produce something coherent. Looks like she was right!
-Kal

Election Time!

2009-01-09T11:44:00.001-05:00

That's right, it's election time in the Virginia House of Delegates 46th district, coming up on Tuesday. We have the distinguished (but not that well announced) honor of attending a Special Election to replace our delegate, Brian Moran (D), who has resigned to focus full time on his run for the Governor's office. That race has started heating up with the entrance of former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe to the nomination battle.

Moran's abrupt decision to resign his assembly seat sparked a very quick election process to get a delegate chosen before the upcoming legislative session. So, the 283 Democrats and Republicans who were aware of it (as opposed to I and the other 45,000 registered voters in the district) converged on an area school to have a caucus and a canvass to determine their nominees.

The most interesting part of this spectacle is the nomination of Joe Murray for the Republicans. The entire length of his campaign for the nomination was 5.5 HOURS. The 49 Republicans who gathered for the canvass chose Joe - he received 20 votes vs the other two challengers who had 16 and 13 votes, respectively. Pretty spectacular, given that he hadn't made up his mind about running until the day of the canvass.

Most people in the district still don't know there is a special election next Tuesday, so I think it should be a quick run up to the poll. I am considering taking after my brother-in-law, Rich, and starting a 4-day write-in campaign. I don't think that Joe really stands a good chance (the Democrat has tangible experience in the community where Joe much less [none?], and this is a heavily Democratic district)...so I may actually write my own name in for kicks.

If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true.

Kal

(Source: Alexandria Times)

More on 2009's Resolution

2009-01-07T13:24:00.002-05:00

Odds for keeping this resolution have just improved substantially. I have challenged my friend, sister-in-law, and fellow slacking blogger Jenny, to join me in this resolution, which is laced with super-secret detailed goals. You know, the "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you" type. Visit her blog, Introspective Insights and encourage her to post too.

I chose this resolution because when I visited my own blog today I noticed I had a total of 4 blog posts in 2008. And, two were cop-out Hulu videos.

Still, my last post was September 30 and Jenny's August 21, so something needed to be done. After all, we're being totally outdone by Jenny's brother Rich, who updates his Encouraging Word blog far more often we do. In our defense, his is part of his ministry.

While I'm on the topic of shout-outs, here's one for my friend Mike (aka The Mario): Visit his website, TheMarioInc, which hasn't been updated since July 30, 2007. I'd say leave him a comment and demand he tell you all that's new since then (especially a little something to do with a really expensive computer accessory), but he doesn't have comments available. So, you can post comments on this entry instead.

Also visit my Moblog, which has had a somewhat more robust update schedule in 2008, and will hopefully improve alongside Kal in Space.

-Kal

New Year's Resolution

2009-01-07T09:41:00.002-05:00

...to post more. I suspect this may be more successful than the lose weight, eat right, be positive/optimistic resolutions. At least I hope so. NO -- I resolve to.

Ultimate Power in the Universe

2008-09-30T23:31:00.002-04:00

And another play on the scene referenced below, care of Family Guy and Hulu.com...

$700 Billion Question

2008-09-30T18:29:00.005-04:00

Been a _very_ long time between posts. But I came up with analogy today, after reading this interview with Lou Dobbs regarding the failure of the House of Representatives to pass the so-called bailout bill.

Is Hank Paulson the ultimate power in the universe?

Meanwhile...I give you an inside look at one of this past Sunday's late-night meetings:

Harry Reid: "What of the [Representitives]? If the [House Republicans] have obtained a complete technical reading of this [Bailout Bill], it is possible, however unlikely, they might find a weakness and exploit it."

George Bush: "The [bill] you refer to will soon be back in our hands."

Nancy Pelosi: "Any attack made by the [House of Representitives] against this [Bailout Bill] would be a useless gesture, no matter what [public support] they have obtained. This [bailout bill] is now the ultimate power in the universe. I suggest we use it."

George Bush: "Don't be too proud of this [bi-partisan coalition] you've constructed. The ability to [rally the representitives] is insignificant next to the power of the [opinion poll]."

Nancy Pelosi: "Don't try to frighten [the American people] with your sorcerer's ways [Mr. President]. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the [needed support from House Republicans], or given you clairvoyance enough to [stop this from happening in the first place]---"

*Bush makes a pinching motion and Pelosi starts choking*

George Bush: "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

-Kal

American Dad: Tearjerker

2008-03-20T22:31:00.002-04:00

Care of Hulu.com.

Villians Beware: The Wiggler is Here

2008-03-12T18:25:00.001-04:00

Superhero Name: The Wiggler
Superpowers: Can wiggle out of wiggle-proof socks and can bust out of any restraint
Weakness: The "SwaddleMe" (aka baby straight jacket)
Secret Identity: Kameron Miller
Alias: Baby Houdini, Kameronator
Protectorate: Alexandria's West End
Son of: Milkmaid, Kalvinator

New York CITY!?

2007-11-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

Yup, that's where I'm headed!

My company is opening the NASDAQ on Thursday, November 8 and I will be there! I might do a little sightseeing and will be bringing my Cell Phone. Watch the Moblog on Wednesday and Thursday for pictures throughout the trip!

If you want to watch the opening bell ceremony on the 8th, check out the NASDAQ Marketsite for the webcam (link is on the bottom of the page).

-Kal

Happy Reformation Day!

2007-10-31T22:50:00.000-04:00

Modern-Day Martin Luther Nails 95 Comment Cards To IHOP Door

SIOUX FALLS, SD—"IHOP has grown weak on powdered sugar and fruity garnishes, forsaking the purity of its original mission," said Lyman, a onetime regular customer.

Hope everyone had a great Reformation Day....and Halloween too.

Rachel's Preggo Pics

2007-09-14T22:13:00.000-04:00

Rachel's Belly Pictures

For interested parties (moms, etc.), the "Preggo Pics." Click the picture to view the photos!

If yours truly isn't too lazy, this should update each week!

-Kal

Dread Pirate Deedle

2007-08-23T06:02:00.001-04:00

The Dread Pirate Deedle is here for your soul!

(Yargh!)

It's a Boy!

2007-08-19T22:00:00.001-04:00

Everyone, meet the newest member of the Miller clan, Kameron Michael (Kam).

Those of you who didn't already know, now know that Rachel and I have a baby on the way. Those that did know, and those that didn't, now know that it's a baby boy. And boy, are we excited. :-)

Here's one of his first shots, posing with his little fist in the air.

Rachel is about 5 months along, Kam is due January 2nd, 2008. And yes, as many have noted we wouldn't mind him being about 3 days early (that's our little tax deduction, yep). We'll keep you up to date!

-Kal

To my Reader in Norway

2007-08-13T14:04:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Washington!

One of the valued subscribers to the Kal in Space blog is apparently from Norway. He/She uses the Opera browser. Such interesting things you can learn from an RSS reader, eh? Please leave a note and let me know who you are! And most importantly, thanks for reading!

To the rest of my readers who may not be subscribers, you can get Kal in Space updates right from your MyYahoo, iGoogle, NetVibes, other homepage service, or standalone RSS reader! Check the icons in the sidebar to sign up. Included are two-click buttons to add Kal in Space to your MyYahoo, iGoogle, or Netvibes page. Also, if you're more knowledgable about RSS, you can also grab the Kal's Moblog RSS feed further down on the page (right-click on the counter for the link).

Thanks and keep reading!
-Kal

[8/15 UPDATE: Ok, so it turns out that everyone using an Opera Browser reflects an origin of Norway. That is, of course, because Opera Software is IN Norway. So it's probably more likely that Mike's added the Kal in Space RSS to his Wii Opera Browser than that I have a reader in Norway. Oh well...I'll leave the post up so you can all laugh at me.]